"OK, that's the lathe recorder. Somebody went out to Germany and made it back alive," Wolfe says, re-enacting the moment when he realized what he must do.

The news of Wild Flag's formation not only meant that some of indie rock's most notable musicians were joining forces but also that indie rock's most notable female voices were returning, re-entering a world they helped create.

The wide-ranging subjects in Pulphead are unified into a coherent book by Sullivan's fine prose and lively voice, which can be scholarly, snarky, lyrical or harsh as suits the occasion.

In Naomi Wallace's eerie and poetic social drama One Flea Spare, several hypocritical class and cultural barriers crumble when the rich are forced to live with the poor, the manager with the laborer, the old with the young.